2/23/2021
Jennifer and Dennis DeLoach with their daughter, Zoë Rose.
PAWTUCKET – Demand for child care is through the roof, say Jennifer and Dennis DeLoach, owners of Joyful Hearts Childcare Center in Pawtucket, but space constraints at their current location, in rented space from First Baptist Church at 91 Cottage St., is preventing them from meeting the need.
The owners are among those advocating for passage of Question 5 when the state votes on bond questions March 2.
Approval of Question 5 would allow the state to create the Early Childhood Facilities Fund, administered under supervision of the R.I. Department of Human Services, to improve the quality of early childhood facilities. Funding would be distributed through small grants for urgent health and safety needs and provide for quality improvement and reconfiguration of space, as well as a larger pool to address the creation or rehabilitation of vacant or blighted properties for new high-quality spaces.